Parachute.



A. ODKOLEK VON AUGEZD.

PARAGHUTB.

APPLICATION FILED JULY a1, 1912.

1,08151 37. Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

STAHL@ ntime.

PAR-CHUTE 1 .oem at.

To all 'whom 'it may concern.'

lie it known that l, Atoom' (muoia-:u voN Aroizzn. a subject ot the llinperor of Ahistria llungary, residing at laden, Vienna, llinpire ot Austria-llnngary` have invented certain new and useful linprovements in Parachutes; and l do hereby declare the followingl to be a full. clear, and exact description otl the invention. such as will enable others skilled in the art: to which it apperlains' to inalfe and use the saine.

My invention relates to parachuteI and hasI t'or its object a mechanism l'or ellieient-ly and reliably openingparachutes attached to personsI or objects above the ground. As experience shows inost oi" the accidents with paraehutes are due to the fact that the parachute does` not fully open and therefore. cannot carrythe full load or is prevented from proi e1-ly .peraliinfby the objectv itself which it is designed to carry. f For avoiding; these inconveniences and thereby rendering parachutes perfectly sate in use lv provide ae-v cording to niy invention means for shooting the parachute as a whole upward by a driving' agent. .such as an explosive charge or tluid under'pressure and for shootin; r outward its ribs or periphery by driving' agents such as explosive charges or [luid under pressure be'lore the load to be carried by the palm-.hule becomesoperative upon the saine. Thus niy improved parachutebecomes a reliable means toi-escape tor aeronauts, for persons in burning,l houses and the like.

lfm-leonipensalinu` the recoil occurring' on shooting the mrachule lmattaeh to the tube 'l'roin which the parachute is .shot a second lube extending); iu the opposite. direction in which .second tube au explosive charge is lired simultaneously with that serving,v for drivingY upward the parachute, the. eXplosive charge in the second tube and the. resistance to the expansion oi the explosion `rases ol auch charge beingY so determined that the two tubes are Subject. to equal and owing: to the arrangement ot thev tubes 0pposite--reeoil or reaction forces which Colnpensate each other so that the two tubes as `an entirety are not subieetV to\ any recoil. This is of particular importance when the` Figure 1 a, central longitudinal Sectionv specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

Application filed July 31. 1912. Serial N0. 712435. y

of the saine, Fig. 2 is a transverse section 0n the line .X ll. Fig. l; Fig'. 3 is a plan View ard there is provided a chamber 3 for re-v ceiving' the driving agent preferably an explosive charge for instance gun powder. In thisI case the channel ist leads from the cham ber 3 tothe bottoni of the tube where a percussion primer and a striker or liringii pin 6' are arranged in any suitable manner. The arni T of the striker is connected with a trigger cord lO preferably by means of a metal eyelet S and is so shaped that the eyelet S engages a notch in the arm T normally closed y by a plate sprintf 9 so that the eyelet cannot slip accidentally troni the arin 'i'. A sleeve l1 is adapted to slide along the tube l and to this sleeve thatpart ot the device is secured which serves for driving' outward the ribs or the periphery of the parachute that is to sa y for opening `or unfolding the salne. '.lhis part consists oi any suitable number of relatively short tubes 12 arranged radially. The inner ends of these tubes constitute chambers for receivingy the driving;l [agent such as explosive charges such chambers beingrV connected by channels 1l with an annular channel I5 in a boss l5 to which the tubes 12 are secured. The boss ll) is fast on the sleeve 11. A tiring mechanism of any suit able construction consistingV for instance of a primer 1T and a strikef`- 1S with a trigger `cord 19 is secured to the bos.' 1G at .some vsuitable place. The trigger cord 19 is `con- `siderably longer than the distance between the striker 18 and the standard in the norinal position of the former, the other endl of the cord 19 being fastened to the standard. When the device is ready for use. the central rod` 20 of the parachute lits into the tube 1 as shown in Fig. l and carries at its upper end the head plate 'of tl'ie'parachute such head plate iXedly secured to the rod and consisting of aA rigid plate 2l provided with cquidi'stant holes 23 serving for securing? the parachute cords 24 whereby when the parachute is unfolded the regularity of its shape is insured.

The fabric constituting the body of the parachute is secured to the plate 2l, and the cords 24.- are fastened to said body in the same manner as ribs are fastened in an umbrella. rlhe cords carrying the load (not shown) are attached to the outer edge of the fabric in any suitable manner.

-'l`he head plate of the parachute is provided with holes for the passage of air when the parachute falls together with the load for the purpose of preventing the parachute from tilting and its fabric from bursting. A number of cords 24 corresponding to the number of tubes 12 extend; below the body of the parachute and carry at their ends short plungers 25 which when the device is ready for use are in the tubes 12. In the example shown in which the device is designed to be used on an aeroplane or on a balloon the standard 2 is secured to some prt 26 of the frame and the trigger cord l .is within the reach of the pilot. The long ropes for carrying the load are suitably coiled or wound and fastened to a waist belt or the like carried by the pilot. rlhe fabric of the parachute is folded around a frame work surrounding the device. -The plungers 25 are in the tubes 12 and themed 2O in the tube 1. rlhe chambers 3 and 13 are charged with an explosive, the trigger cord lt) is fastened to the standard and the strikers (3 and 18 are in the position of rest shown in Fig. 1. The frame may be provided with a cover which may be readily removed or destroyed. Instead of the head plate 2l a larger disk 3T may be secured to the rod 20 as shown 'in dotted lines in Fig. 1 on which the folded fabric of the parachute is placed and covered by a hood 38 of fabric or the like. "l`hc outer edge or periphery of the fabric is connected to the plungers by cords 24 so that on shooting the parachute and the plungers the parachute is unfolded and-opened, the hood 38 being thrown olf. 'lhisinmfolding is very regular owing to the fact that. the fabric is regularly folded on the disk 37. V

According to Fig. 4 the tube 1 is connected with a similar tube 28 couxial'with it so that tho open mouths of the two tubes are on opposite ends. [for facilitating the arrangement of the igniting channels the two tubes are preferably separated by an intermediate blork 2S) in which the igniting chunnelsI 4, ltl7- 82 :iro provided. ()ne ol' the channels say il() loads outward to a primer 5 situated b v a .striker t?. "the igniting chair nels 4- and `252 connect lli'I channel il() with the clnnnberzI in the tubosl and 28 rcspectively containing the explosive charges. ll'nto the tube l the rod 2l) of the parachute is inserted and into the tube a tightly fitting plug 35 for instance of soft metal. The outer end of the tube 28 is conical resembling a choke bore barrel to such an extent that the plug 35 on being shot out from the tube 28 and owing to the choke bore of the latter meets with a resistance which is equal to the resistance offered by the parachute to its being shot out from the tube 1. Consequently the recoil due to the shooting of the parachute is equal to the recoil due to the shooting of the plug 35 and owing to the arrangement of the tubes the recoils are in opposite directionsand therefor the tubes 1 and 28 as an entirety and the structure in which they are mounted are not subject to recoil at all. For preventin(T the plug 35 from leaving the tube 28 with too great a velocity this tube may be provided with a cylindrically bored extension, beyond its choke bore portion, such extension being provided with lateral openings 36 for the escape of the explosion gases, when the plug has passed such openings. The pressure on the plug is thereby relieved so that it leaves the tube with a comparatively small momentum or may be stopped in the part of the tube 28 extending beyond the openings 86 by simply closing the outer end of this tube. Instead of producing the resistance in the tube 28 by a choke bore and a plug it may be produced by other means for instance by closing the mouth of the tube 28 by a disk of sutlicient strength which is torn by the explosion gases.

The operation of the device above described when used on -an aeroplane or balloon is the following: In case of emergency the pilot pulls the firing cord 10 and thereby turns the striker (5 to such an extent that the eyelet 8 escapes from below the plate spring 9 whereby the striker is first cocked and then released and thus strikes against the primer 5 and lires the explosive charge in the tube l so that the folded parachute is driven upward and through the upward pull of the cords 24 connected with thev plungers 25 takes with it the sleeve 1l and the device for unfolding the parachute and stretching and tightening the tiring cord if). The latter cocks and releases the striker 18 whereby the explosive charges inthe tubes 12 are tired at a moment when the parachute is so far above the aeroplane or balloon that it canv unfold freely, the length of the cord 1S) boing suitably chosen for this purpose. (hr firing the explosive charges in the tubes 12 the plungers 25 are shot radially outward causing the parachute to unfold properly by means ofthe cords 2/l. lhe sleeve 11 with its attached parts is freed from the parachute upon the ejection of the plunger-s 25. The length of the cords carrying the load is so determined that it is only after unfoldingr the paraclulte thatA they are fully stretched so that the load to be a plug between such driving charge and its outer end.

S. The combination of a parachute with means for shooting the parachute upward, such means comprising a tube adapted to receive a driving charge, a sleeve adapted to slide along the said tube, radial tubes secured to such Sleeve and adapted to receive explosive charges and plungers, cords connecting' such plungers to the periphery of the parachute and means for simultaneously firing the explosive charges in the said radial tubes, substantially as and for the purpose described.

9. The combination of a parachute with means for shooting the parachute upward, Such means comprising a tube adapted to receive a driving charge, a sleeveadapted to slide. along the said tube, radial tubes secured to sucli sleeve and adapted to receive explosive charges and plungers, cords connecting such plunger-s to the periphery of the parachute and means for simultaneously tiring the explosive charges in the said 'radial tubes, such latter means comprising a tiring cord having one of its ends attached to tiring mechanism for the explosive charges of the radial tubes and its other end to an element rigidly connected tothe first named tube.

10. The combination of a parachute with means for shooting the parachute upward, such means comprising a tube adapted to receive a driving charge, a sleeve adapted to slide along such tube, radial tubes secured to such sleeve and adapted to receive explosive charges and plungers, cords connecting such plung'crs to the periphery of the arachute and means for simultaneously hring the explosive charges in the said radial tubes, such latter means comprising a channel in the said sleeve communicating with all the radial tubes and adapted to receive an explosive charge, a iring-cord having attached one of its ends to'a firing mechanism for the explosive charge in the Said channel and its other end to an element rigidly connected with the first named tube, substantially as and for the purpose described.

l1. lhe combination of a parachute with receive a drivin means for shooting the parachute'upward,

such means comprising a tube adapted to receive a driving charge, means for alltomatically unfol ing the parachute after shooting and means for deadening the recoil of the first named tube, such lattermeans comprising a tube secured to and coaxial vwith the first named tube and adapted to receive a driving charge at its closed end next to the closed end of the arachute shooting tube and means in the tu coaxial with the parachute shooting tube for oii'ei'-,

ing a resistance to the esca e of the driving charge at the other end o? such tube, substantially as and for the purpose described. l2. The combination of a parachute with means for shooting the parachute upward, such means comprising a tube adapted to charge, means for automatically unfol ing the arachute after shooting and means for dea ening the recoil of the irst named tube, the bore of such sec? ond 'tube tapering toward its outer end remotest from the first named tube, such second tube being adapted to receive a drivin@ charge at its closed end next to the close end of the parachute shooting tube and aplug between such driving charge 'and its outer end, substantially as and for the purpose described.

13. The combination of a parachute, radial cylinders adapted bo receive explosive charges, a plunger in each cylinder, a Hexible conection 4between each plunger arid the parachute, and means for simultaneously exploding the charges.

14. The combination of a support, a parachute, cylinders adapted to receive explosive charges, a plunger in each cylinder, a f

'flexible connection between each plunger and the parachute, a striker for explodingthe charge of the cylinders, and a flexible con.

nection between each striker and the sup'- )ort. I In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ADOLF FREUIERR. ODKOLEK VON AUGEZD. Witnesses: v

Alrrmi: BAUMANN, Auous'r lftoonn. 

